Father and son injured in Water Lane gun attack

Lestin Duncan, 65, and his 24-year-old son narrowly escaped death on Tuesday night after they were shot outside their home on Water Lane in downtown Kingston.

According to reports, about 8 p.m., a man on a motorbike approached a group of persons and started shooting. Four men were injured, and later rushed to hospital.

"Me and me son stand up outside and me only see a bike drive down the road fast, then me only hear bare shot. Me run cross the road and my son run go inna the yard. Me feel the shot and feel something a sprinkle all over me body. Me son get a shot inna him foot a the groin area and me never know," Duncan recalled.

They thought it was finally over, but then came more gunshots.

"The man ride off again and go down the road and do the same thing. All me hear a 'pop pop pop!' Bare shot," he said.

Four a we get shot

He learnt that his son was injured when he saw a large gathering near his gate.

"When me run come back me see excitement in front a the yard. Me see them a put me son inna one car, and me see them a put two more man inna the same car ... one a dem hand mash off. A four a we get shot. Me end up go inna the same car fi go hospital too," he told THE WEEKEND STAR.

On the heart-rending journey to the hospital, he couldn't help but think that his son was going to die. It was the worst car ride of his life.

"Me just did a wish seh a me alone get shot. Me son young and him no live no life yet. Right now, him still in the hospital and him foot swell up big. The doctor say him lucky because the shot no damage him spine. Him a just 24 and him no business wid dem things deh ... him a coward! Me worse."

This is not the first time the father and son have faced tragedy. After a fire destroyed their home on Wellington Street in 2013, the Duncan family found refuge at an abandoned space on Water Lane. But now, after 13 years, they are living in terror.

"The family is affected. A fishing me do, enuh, and me caa go a sea. Me fraid! Me and me wife no sleep here a night time. We go stay wid a friend. Right now, my wife planning to leave for good," he said.

The police are now probing the shooting. As of February 29, 2020, 13 murders have been recorded in Kingston Western.

This is more than twice the amount for the corresponding period in 2019. The region has also recorded an increase in shootings - 15 - up from 10 in 2019.